The Overwatch 1.43 update is live on the PTR, bringing several changes to Blizzard’s shooter. The changes are coming first to PC, given the PC-only nature of the PTR, but they will eventually make their way into the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms as well. This patch removes the current Skirmish feature allowing players to fight while waiting for the match to begin, replacing it with a new option called “While You Wait.” It’s up to the Overwatch community to give their feedback on this change, stating if they prefer it over the previous Skirmish option.
Overwatch 1.43 Update Patch Notes PTR | Highlights
The “While You Wait” option allows you to choose from different game modes while in queue, including Deathmatch, Skirmish, Practice Range, or a custom game. These game modes are optional and you can try them solo or in a team, but only the leader is able to pick a mode.
ALSO: Overwatch 2 Release Date and Platforms | When is Overwatch 2 releasing?
The Workshop is seeing a few changes, but the bulk of this update is about hero balance. Reinhardt’s barrier is being nerfed, a shift that is being welcomed by the Overwatch community on Reddit. There seems to be a bigger focus on mobility, with players saying that this contributes to turning up the pace of the matches up a notch.
The Overwatch 1.43 update comes with a host of bug fixes as well. One of them corrects a very specific issue with the colorblind mode, while the custom game Assault/Escort was renamed to Hybrid. Several hero abilities were having problems with collision boxes on vending machines and a few other props, but changes were made to make these actions register properly.
Despite the recent announcement of Overwatch 2, the first game still has a long life ahead. Considering Blizzard’s daring plans to make players from both games spar together in an almost unprecedented move, hero balance will certainly remain as one of the top priorities for the developers.
Take a look at the full Overwatch 1.43 update patch notes below and give the PTR a go while you wait for the update to be deployed in the live servers.
Overwatch 1.43 Update PTR | Full Patch Notes
INTRODUCING “WHILE YOU WAIT”
Coming with this patch, we will be removing the current “Skirmish” feature that allowed you to spar while waiting to start a game and replacing it with a brand new option called “While You Wait”.
When in queue, players will now be prompted to pick, if they want to, between the following game modes:
- Practice Range – Now available to be entered as a group
- Skirmish – Spar freely with other players without keeping track of score
- Deathmatch – Compete for the top place on the scoreboard
- Custom Game – Pick a custom game from the Custom Game Browser or create your own game mode
- Note that Custom Game will have to have the new setting “Allow players who are matchmaking” available in order to be selected
All “While You Wait” game modes are optional and can be accessed by a single player or as a group, but only the group leader can decide which mode to pick.
WORKSHOP UPDATES
- Custom Games – Practice Range Mode
- New Workshop Values
- Game Mode
- Current Game Mode
- New Workshop setting
- “Allow players who are matchmaking”: allows players who are matchmaking to participate in the Custom Game created
HERO UPDATES
General
- Armor damage reduction increased from 3 to 5
Orisa
General
- Base armor increased from 200 to 250
Fusion Driver
- Movement speed penalty reduced from 30% to 20%
Protective Barrier
- Health reduced from 900 to 600
Fortify
- Cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds
Sigma
Experimental Barrier
- Health reduced from 1500 to 900
- Barrier health regeneration rate reduced from 150 to 120 health per second
Kinetic Grasp
- Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds
- Damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%
Reinhardt
Barrier Field
- Health reduced from 2000 to 1600
- Movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 25%
Steadfast (Passive)
- Knockback resistance increased from 30% to 50%
Developer Comment: The above changes to armor, Orisa, Sigma, and Reinhardt are aimed at decreasing the overall amount time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas. This is a significant change to the pace of the game and we’ll be monitoring these heroes closely to ensure they retain impactful gameplay in the tank role.
Moira
Biotic Grasp
- Healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)
Developer Comment: Moira’s primary heal has proven to be too potent, largely due to its ability to heal multiple targets.
D.Va
Defense Matrix
- Cooldown decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds
Developer Comment: With role locks in place there is some room to improve D.Va’s impact as a tank, so we’re partially reverting a previous change which increased Defense Matrix’s cooldown.
Widowmaker
Grappling Hook
- Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds
Developer Comment: With barriers having less uptime, Widowmaker will be even more effective at locking down long sight lines. This change weakens her mobility so she can still be reasonably countered.
Torbjörn
Overload
- Cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds
Developer Comment: Torbjörn has difficulty in extended team fights once his turret is eliminated and Overload has been used. This change allows Torbjörn to be able to rely on his Overload more often.
Genji
Shuriken
- Ammo increased from 24 to 30
Developer Comment: As average hero survivability has gone up over time, Genji can sometimes have difficulty finishing off his targets. Loosening his ammunition constraints will help give him a small boost.
Zarya
Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)
- Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
- Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20
Developer Comment: Zarya’s overall damage output is in a good spot but the secondary fire was left feeling a little too weak after the last set of changes.
BUG FIXES
General
- Color Blind Mode – Fixed an issue which caused models affected by infra-sight to appear washed out when using colors other than red
- Workshop – Fixed an issue causing map names and dropdowns from being displayed in the incorrect case
- Workshop – Fixed an issue preventing D.Va from being detected in Player Died events
- Custom Games – Renamed Assault/Escort to Hybrid
- Fixed a bug that could cause heroes with regenerating health/shields to not take full damage when damaged while at full health
- Various hero abilities (e.g. Symmetra’s Turrets, Roadhog’s Hook, Sigma’s Accretion, Orisa’s Halt, etc) will now respect the collision boxes on vending machines and other such props
- Fixed a bug that caused High Precision Mouse Input to cause toggle crouch to behave inconsistently
Maps
- Black Forest (1v1) – Fixed a bug that allowed Reaper to Shadow Step through the breakable doors
Heroes
Doomfist
- The default circle is now hidden when using advanced reticle settings
- Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented the sound effect of Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut from playing
- Fixed a bug where Seismic Slam could land on an enemy’s head while playing FFA modes
Junkrat
- Fixed a bug where Junkrat grenades would not explode when slowly rolling down steep inclines
Orisa
- Fixed an issue where Orisa’s halt projectile could sometimes appear to go through the ground when viewed in 3rd person.
Roadhog
- Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s hook from damaging turrets and barriers
Widowmaker
- Turning off the toggle zoom control option for Widowmaker while zoomed in no longer remains stuck in the zoomed state
